Abandoned in Klamath Falls, Oregon

This small city in southern Oregon was a hub for the logging and wood products industry, but this began to fade as early as the 1950s. Now, there is very little left of that industry, most of it having moved elsewhere in the state, or out-of-state. As the town has declined, more and more business buildings and old houses have deteriorated, become chronically unoccupied or abandoned altogether.

There are interesting brick buildings downtown that were built in the early 1900s. A few have been bought and restored by the city, but they have little chance of becoming re-occupied.

Most retail business is conducted outside the downtown area. This leaves much of the old, classic American brick downtown and small wood bungalows boarded up. Of course, this is not a story unique to my town, but it's a story that I record because I happen to live here.

The abandonment of buildings is a melancholy affair and the rapid decay is also, somehow, aesthetically fascinating. The waste of it all - so much material and equipment left behind, the disappointment and faded potential - is sometimes incomprehensible.

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